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1394-1460

 

In the current political environment where we are sensitive to our multi-cultural history, it is difficult, particularly in a short essay, to put in perspective the contributions of the Spanish, Portuguese, and other European explorers of the New World. In part, we fail to emphasize that from the seventh until the seventeenth century, Islam and Christianity were involved in a conflict over the known world where the ultimate victor was problematic. In fact some historians feel that the finding of abundant minerals, lands, subservient populations, etc.  in the New World that encouraged gross national production expansion in Western Europe. That is, the discovery of the New World with its abundance was a crucial factor in the Christian ascendancy. The pendulum has swung against positive symbolic meaning for people such as Henry the Navigator and Columbus. We have significant guilt over the enslavement and ruthless destruction of natives and their culture throughout the New World (Africa, Asia, North and South America). 

 

In 1992, the Spanish government failed miserably to create a meaningful event for the celebrating the five hundredth anniversary of Columbus discoveries. In that context, it is understandable that the role of Henry the Navigator is even less appreciated. Nevertheless, we can safely say that without the serious progress in navigation secured by Henry, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella probably would have postponed financing Columbus’s explorations. Columbus in his twenty- year quest to secure financing for his ambitions cultivated the rulers of Portugal, the city-states of Italy, and Spain. In earlier periods we would have extolled Henry as a man who dedicated his life to scientific explorations and discoveries, a man of vision and audacity, a hero who overcame opposition and adversity to achieve lasting changes in history.

 

Separating out his greed, his disdain for heathen cultures, Henry’s supporters can claim that (1) he spent considerable personal effort and funds in advancing the state of navigational knowledge (2) he did encourage colorizations and explorations to previously considered inhospitable regions (3) he got the Church –the only Christian Body—to legitimize Portuguese settlements postponing the inevitable nation-state squabbles over sovereignty and alternatively recognized the suzerainty of Portugal over selective African lands(4) Through his personal magnetism, he convinced ship captains and sailors to consistently navigate along to the South Atlantic which neither had regular winds nor currents flowing southward. (5) He promoted the development of a revolutionary sailing ship, the caravel. This ship was faster that its predecessors and could sail well into the wind. The ships smaller and lighter than the Spanish galleons developed in the 1500’s were about 60 feet long and could carry roughly 130 tons of cargo (6) The ships could not rely upon friendly, traditional ports providing needed requisitions. 

 

Henry the Navigator deserves attention because he and his navigational school clearly jump started Western European efforts to find profitable trade routes to the Indies, surpassing both Islam power blocs and well as the city-states of Italy.  The later had stifled exploration and trade, charging exorbitant monopolistic fees to use their services.

 

Henry the Navigator was the principal person responsible for Portugal developing into a major sea power. Recognizing that land travel was difficult given that Portugal lies along the Atlantic coast at the furthest end of Europe, the Portuguese rulers understood that while sea travel was difficult, it also provided a means for surpassing other European nations. 

 

Henry organized and financed voyages that led to the rounding of Africa and establishing sea routes to the Indies. While courage, ingenuity and greed were significant stimulants to launching an ambitious naval program, we must also recognize that converting heathen lands to Catholicism was also a primary mission. As a faithful Catholic he was alarmed about the power of Islam. He therefore extolled the conversion of heathens. Subsequently, the subjugation of millions of people and the whole destruction of their civilization seemed essential if these converts could become a bulwark against Islam.  Henry vainly sought to find the court of Prester John, the mythical Christian king said to live in Asia. His other goal was to open trade routes to the Indies that bypassed Islamic nations.

 

For most of his life he lived in Sagres, a promontory on the edge of the open ocean. He made this a center for cartography, navigation, and shipbuilding. Jews, Muslims, Arabs, Venetians, Germans, and Scandinavians worked together to make this a foremost learning center. This community developed navigational instruments such as the quadrant, and new mathematical tables to aid in determining latitude.

 

Henry’s main aim was to explore the most southern shores of Africa. . Previous explorers thought that the area was not navigable because the water was too hot. Henry was successful in colonizing the Azores and Madeira. A bi-product of Portuguese exploration was the expansion of slave trading. Henry defended such actions because he converted these natives to Christianity.

 

In 1448 Henry was able to send a crew some 110 leagues beyond Cape Verde, and this was the farthest south reached during his lifetime.

 

Despite large land ownership, gaining monopolies on trade of certain goods, finding gold, the cost of navigation was so prohibitive that Henry died in debt.